All posts by: Robert Yarbrough

About Robert Yarbrough

The Bride of Patent Reform II Returns, Again

March 30, 2015 Patent

It’s Spring, so the thoughts of the lobbyists representing high-tech heavy weights turn to crippling the U.S. patent system.  Competing bills are already pending in Congress.  Why do the giant high-tech companies do it? The sound-bite reason given is to stop the depredations of patent ‘trolls;’ that is, entities that own patents but that do […]

Changes in U.S. Design Patent Law

February 27, 2015 Patent

  The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issues both ‘utility’ and ‘design’ patents.  A ‘utility’ patent protects how something works (e.g., the better mousetrap).  A ‘design’ patent protects the appearance of the thing (e.g., a mousetrap bait that resembles cheese).  Design patent law in the U.S. is about to change.  The U.S. has taken the […]

PTO’s Secret SAWS Program

February 27, 2015 Patent

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has a secret Sensitive Application Warning System (‘SAWS’) program for extra review of patent applications where action might embarrass the agency.  The problem is how the program functions and which applicants and applications are subject to SAWS are all secret.  We know only the broadest guidelines for the program […]

Secrecy and Grapes: The ‘Public Use” Concept Under Patent Law

January 30, 2015 Patent

We’ll start with the conclusion: don’t use your invention in public until AFTER you file a patent application. Back to the beginning:  Under the patent statute, a ‘public use’ of an invention prior to filing a patent application will destroy U.S. patent rights to the invention.  Before March 16, 2013, the inventor had one year […]

Death Spiral of Software Patents

October 30, 2014 Patent

In the not-so-slow death spiral of software patents in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Alice v CLS Bank, another trial court has determined that a patent for software should not have been issued because the software addressed by the patent is not the kind of invention eligible for patenting.  In the case of […]

See the Amazing Shrinking Software Patent (Before It’s Gone)

September 30, 2014 Patent

As discussed above, the Alice v CLS Bank decision of the United States Supreme Court has the potential to preclude patent protection for many software and computer-implemented inventions and to invalidate many issued patents for those inventions.  The Court gave only the sketchiest guidance on how to determine when a claimed invention is too abstract. […]

Patent Litigation: Collecting Attorney’s Fees Just Got Easier!

August 29, 2014 Patent

Patent infringement litigation usually is high stakes and very expensive.  The cost of the litigation can easily reach seven figures or more.  In the United States, each party to litigation generally bears its own costs, with exceptions.   Section 285 of the patent statute contains the exception for patent litigation.  The statute is short and sweet: The […]

Busy, Busy, Busy

June 28, 2014 Patent

The Supreme Court has had a busy time of it in June stirring the patent pot, with decisions in three cases and arguments in a fourth. The general rule is that whenever the Supreme Court decides a patent case, the law is left in worse shape than it was before. The recent decisions are no […]

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.1

June 28, 2014 Internet Law

A cyber security firm called Norse maintains what it claims to be a dynamic, real-time map of cyber attacks as they happen, showing cities of origin and targets.  The first thing you’ll do after viewing this constantly-changing map is update your security software.  The second is to clean the cobwebs out of your filing cabinet. […]

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